Equinox
by GracelesslyFalling
Summary: Sequel to Dark Side of the Moon so read it 1st! Alyssa has chosen to let go of her past, but will it let her go? Plagued by memories, dreams, and a weird stalker Alyssa finds herself realizing that her happily ever after might just have to wait.
1. Preface

**Preface**

I was trapped. Trapped in a world between worlds. A world that was more a dream than anything else. Nothing seemed real. I could see the real world, but it couldn't see me. This was no Neverland. It was a torturous purgatory. Standing on the border of woods surrounding the distant white house that looked so warm I could hear the bubbling of a stream nearby. My back was turned away from the forest that concealed the world I had been born into. The world that was here, but again not here: a place invisible to all other eyes.

I didn't care that in that world I was a queen, I had power and was adored by my people. That I had a castle full of servants waiting to serve and guards to protect me. I knew they weren't there to keep danger out. No, they were there to keep me in: a prisoner in my own backyard, so close and yet too far out of reach.


	2. Distracted

**Chapter One**

_Distracted_

"I can't believe she's really gone," Megan whispered softly from behind me.

We were leaning against each other's back in the sand at La Push beach. She was facing towards the seemingly endless stretch of shoreline while I was pointed towards the lush green forest that bordered that end of the beach.

It was the first official day of summer. I finished out the year with Edward—finally able to transfer into the class after two seats were suddenly opened up—as my lab partner in chemistry. The story was Kendra had to move out of state because of a promotion her father had received. There was no story for Desmond. He left as mysteriously as he had come.

"Yeah, me neither." I finally answered her, digging my bare feet into the sand.

After losing Kendra so unexpectedly I had taken to spending more time with my other friends. Hence sitting in the sand with Megan in mostly silence; Kendra had always filled those silences with her endless chatter and we weren't quite sure of what to do now that she wasn't there.

"I didn't even get to say goodbye." I admitted.

"But you got her voicemail right?" Megan added reminding me of the message I had found once I retrieved my phone from my bedside table.

"Yeah," it had only been a minute tops. Her voice telling me she was sorry for all the trouble she had caused, how she only wanted me back where I belonged and promising me she would fix everything. I had a feeling it was drastically different from the one Megan received. "I did."

Making sure Megan wasn't looking I pulled a folded picture from my pocket. The one of Kendra and me laughing, looking happy. I had taken to carrying it around with me. It reminded me how she had been my best friend for two lifetimes, even if this one was much shorter than the last.

I tried to ease the crease line down the middle by sliding it over my bent knee. It worked a little, though there was still a faint indent between the two of us. I sighed forlornly thinking of how much I missed her and how I could have saved her. It should have been me, not her. I should have been the one mysteriously missing from chemistry.

Raising my eyes to the forest before me I noticed a slight movement of leaves. A sandy wolf shifted slightly as he watched me. His eyes bore into mine showing his worry. As if he could read my thoughts. But I knew he couldn't.

Seth could simply sense my mood entirely too accurately. All the more so when he was in his animal form. Taking one last look at the photo I refolded it and slid it back into my pocket. Silence enveloped me as the conversation lulled between Megan and me. I focused on wiggling my toes in the cool sand instead of the eyes that were watching me from the cover of the trees.

"Poor Stephen," Megan mumbled lightly, voicing the end of her private thoughts.

Her statement jolted me back to my seventeenth birthday, when Kendra had asked me to invite him to my party. Stephen had been the subject of Kendra's affections. All she had cared about back then was getting him to notice her. At least, that's what I had always thought was her only worry. When he finally had not only noticed her but reciprocated her feelings, she only got a few months with him at most.

"At least he'll be at college soon. That will distract him enough." I tried to make myself believe that, even when I had no idea how close him and Kendra had gotten.

The past several months I hadn't really been the best friend to Kendra or the others in our intimate group. My whole attention had been focused on the mystery Desmond's appearance had brought on. I was so wrapped up in my own problems. It made me sad that I had become so out of tune with my old life.

"Have you thought much about where you're going to apply in the fall?" Megan asked unaware that my train of thought was far from our conversation.

I tried to force myself to focus on the conversation for her sake. She deserved to have my full attention. Too bad it was so hard for me to give it to her. There was just so much that had happened recently that had my brain constantly jumping between present and past events.

"Not really," I admitted truthfully, glancing towards the woods to find Seth's wolf with his ears pulled back low. "I mean it's not till the fall."

I had added the last part for his benefit. He didn't like thinking about me leaving for college; I was simply reassuring him that we still had time before I really had to think about it.

Knowing Carlisle, he'll probably want me to check out all the Ivy League schools. Alice will insist I look into schools with good art programs, while Emmett will want me to look at all the schools with winning football teams. I didn't really know what I wanted yet. Spending most of my time as of late studying my past has left me coming up short when it came to my future.

"How about you, do you know where you want to apply?" I felt her shrug, the movement pushing against my shoulder blades.

"My dad wants me to check out MIT, but my mom doesn't like the idea of a whole country between us." She admitted. "Truthfully, I want to go someplace warm. Like California, or Arizona, or maybe even Florida."

"Warm would be nice," I agreed, sighing wistfully just as Megan's phone went off.

"It's my mom," She said unhappily as the ringing continued. "I guess I better get going, you need a ride?" She asked as we both stood.

"Nah, I'm going to stay a little longer." Smiling at me as if she knew just who I was staying for she answered her nagging phone as she made her way back to the parking lot.

"I'm on my way now," was all I heard before the wind carried her words away from me.

Bending down I slipped my flip flops back on my feet. They were cheep ones from the drugstore with bright orange soles and yellow straps. I had worn them in honor of celebrating the first day of summer, pairing them with jeans, a t-shirt and a light jacket. The weather wasn't very reflective of this monumental day for children ages four to eighteen around the country.

I heard him approaching even though he did so, so swiftly and quietly no normal hearing range would have been able to detect it. Seth slid his arms around me from behind, pulling me close until my back pressed against his chest. Heat radiated off of him and warmed me. I no longer required the aid of the jacket.

We stood like that for a while, silently staring at the water. I leaned into him, feeling comfortable and safe in his arms. Knowing he would protect me from anything and everything that could possible hurt me. Except for my thoughts; no one could save me from them.

"I love you," he whispered into my hair. He never could seem to say those words enough. Always proving them with the little things he did like when he was holding me as if I was the most precious thing in the world, reaching for me whenever I was near.

"Love you too," I responded automatically, taking one of his hands in my own.

My hand was so tiny compared to his. Everything about him was bigger than me. Sometimes I wished I wasn't so small just so I could look into his eyes and kiss him without standing on my tip toes. Even then he had to be looking down for me to do so.

Seth didn't agree with me on that. He loved me just the way I was, short stature and all. I secretly think it's because he could tuck me into his arms until he surrounded me. But he's never admitted to it. As that thought fluttered through my head he bent down and settled his chin on the top of my head. He made a contented noise deep in his throat. I could feel the vibration on my head and smiled, feeling pretty content myself.

"I can't believe you're actually here. With me. Like this." He sighed happily. "I've wanted this—you—for so long."

My heart swelled at that, trying to stretch itself so it could hold every emotion I felt then. So it could hold my love and joy as well as accept Seth's love. Lifting our entwined hands I brushed my lips gently across his knuckles. He shivered as he took in a sharp breath, the movement of air fluttering my hair. It made me smile: the effect I seemed to have on him.

"Was I worth the wait?" I breathed out the question.

Pulling my hair away from my left ear he whispered his answer so it filled my ear. "Yes, you make everything worth it."

It made me want to kiss him badly. All I had to do was twist my head to the left and let my lips find his. Just as I was acting on my impulse, turning my face towards him, someone shouted Seth's name. It was Leah.

"Just ignore her," Seth murmured as he leaned forward. His name was called again and I turned to look down so his lips kissed my cheek instead. He grumbled something inaudible against my skin.

"She's your sister," I defended myself. "And she already hates me."

It didn't take Leah long to reach us, and by the look on her face she wasn't expecting to see me, nor was she happy to.

"Jake's changing the shifts around this week; you're taking Quil's place tonight." She said acting like she hadn't even seen me.

Seth nodded looking unhappy. "I'll be there." Leah graced me with a frozen, pointed look before eyeing her brother again. Seth seemed to catch it and he let out a warning grumble close to a growl. "I promise."

That seemed to be good enough for her for she left shortly after, leaving us alone on the beach again. The sky seemed a little grayer than before. Leah brought negativity and bad weather wherever she went. She was a walking rain cloud.

"Claire's lucky I like her, or else she'd be short a groom." Seth mumbled as he squeezed me tighter.

"I have a dinner date with Sarah," I reminded him. "So I wouldn't be around tonight anyways."

Sarah and Evan had finally gotten together after prom and she was in desperate need of some girl talk. For some reason she was choosing me as the one she would gush about Evan to. I just hope she didn't have any after prom stories about losing her virginity because that was one thing I would just not be comfortable listening to.

"Right, good luck with that." He laughed.

We stayed near the water's edge for a little while longer before we headed back to Seth's house and his old truck, hand in hand. I needed to get ready for my evening out, and he obliged by driving me home. He followed me up the stairs, but was intercepted by Emmett, who made him wait for me back downstairs.

Despite his initial bet when Seth and I had first started going out, he was usually the one who enforced the whole rule of Seth and me not being in my room alone and unsupervised. In fact, he didn't really like Seth in my room at all. Ever since Jasper and his bet ended in a draw, seeing as I'm still as innocent as a rose, he had decided he would do whatever was in his power to keep things that way.

Slipping into my room I locked the door so Alice wouldn't come and try to dress me like the toy doll she seemed to think I was. She wouldn't break down the door, even though she could, so I was pretty much home free until I turned to find her sitting on my bed.

Needless to say I screamed, well it was more like a squeak.

"Alice I am dressing myself tonight so you're just going to have to deal with it." I tried to sound firm, assertive.

"Don't take away one of my only means of entertainment." She brushed me off as she preceded me into the closet.

Methodically she began shuffling through the racks of clothes as if they were alphabetized files in a filing cabinet. Somehow she always knew just where every single item was. In a matter of minutes she had pulled out a deep violet halter with some intricate beading around the top and some dark denim shorts.

"Alice, it's not warm enough for shorts," I reminded her. She simple rolled her eyes, muttering about being too sensitive to the weather and replaced the shorts with faded denim blue jeans.

Once on the jeans clung to my legs like a second skin that made me nervous to try and squat or sit down for fear they would rip. Fortunately the fabric was also flexible so no rippage occurred when I bent to slip on my shoes.

It was eight oh five by the time I was leaving my room. I had expected Seth to already be on duty but he was standing there, waiting in the living room as I made my way down the last few steps. I tried to sneak up on him, but it was useless. He turned at the last moment, pausing to study me for a minute before reaching out and pulling me into him.

"Aren't you running a little late?" I asked him as his hands wrapped around my back.

"I wanted to say goodbye, although I can't say it was a very smart idea," he laughed heavily. "You're making it really hard for me to even think about leaving."

Pulling away, he let go reluctantly. "Well than I'll make it easier for you," I started pushing him towards the back door, only able to move him because he wasn't fighting against me.

"I'll see you later." Opening the door I pushed him out, but not before reaching up and kissing him once. "Now go."

He stood there for a moment staring at me longingly through the glass wall of windows before moving further into the darkness to shift. Shaking my head I made my way to the front of the house, where Sarah was picking me up. I could hear her car coming to a stop in the drive and a minute later she honked.

"I'm leaving" I called out to whoever cared to know.

Esme called something back from upstairs just as I was shutting the door, so I didn't quite catch it. Sarah had the car running in the driveway and waved excitedly as I bounded down the stairs and across the lawn to her.

"Oh my god, we have so much catching up to do." She gushed as soon as I was in.

"Hey Sarah, it's nice to see you too." I laughed. "Where are we going?"

"Ooh, to this new little French café called Mimi's in Port Angeles." French, the French liked cheese. I could probably find something vegetarian on the menu.

"Sounds fun," I managed to get out before she turned the radio on, blasting it as loud as she could with the sunroof open despite the night chill.

Sarah was very ADD. Always excited and never able to stick to one topic for long: very different from Megan. Which was a good thing because sometimes I needed to be reminded that life wasn't always meant to be taken so seriously. Sarah helped with that.

Driving insanely fast for someone with the reflex's of a human Sarah got us to Port Angeles in good time. We parked in a spot around the corner from the restaurant. The silence after the radio was cut off was eerie and thick but was quickly filled with the chattering of people as we approached the main sidewalk.

As we hurried towards the café I got the tingly feeling of being watched. Glancing around I saw people hustling home in business suits with briefcases and many teenagers walking in the direction of the movie theater, but none were paying any attention to me or Sarah.

I shook it off. It was only paranoia. Pulling myself together I followed Sarah into the restaurant where we were showed to our reserved seats by the window. I swear Sarah didn't even glance at the menu before launching into a one sided conversation.

"Okay, so Evan wants me to spend a week with him and his family in California this summer. Do you think that's moving too fast? I mean we've been friends for a while now so technically we've been together for like years. Not in the dating definition of the term, but still. It's like you and Seth. By the way I want to know how that's going. So would you spend a week with Seth and his family?"

Eventually she paused for air and was able to order food before any more conversation was pursued. I'm not sure which questions were rhetorical and which she meant, but I knew she would move as fast as she wanted with Evan regardless of what my opinion on the matter was. I also knew there was no way in Hell I would ever voluntarily spend a week with Leah and call it a vacation. Vacations were supposed to be fun, not torturous.

"—so then Mr. Goff intercepted us on the way to the room and nothing happened." I caught the end of one of her tirades. I couldn't help but feel thankful to Mr. Goff for sparing me from hearing the intimate details of what would surely have happened if he hadn't caught them.

"That stinks, sorry," was all I said as I took another bite of my pasta dish. It was harder than I thought to find a vegetarian dish on the menu. Apparently the French loved their meat just as much as their cheese.

"I wasn't really ready anyways. So…what about you and Seth?" She raised her eyebrows.

"What about Seth and me?" I asked as I reached for my water.

"Have you two, you know…" She wiggled her raised eyebrows suggestively causing me to choke on the water.

"No! Of course not," I finally coughed out.

Sarah gave me a reproachful look, as if she didn't quite believe me.

"Come one Alyssa. Have you seen the way that boy looks at you. How could you not. I mean just looking at him makes _me_ want to jump him. And I like Evan."

"Seth isn't like that." He respected me. Then again Emmett and Edward breathing down his neck whenever we were together in any near vicinity of a bed or a couch made it impossible not to respect me.

Not that I'd want my first time to be anywhere near my family or on a couch for that matter, I mean really.

"Every guy has carnal urges every now and then. It's in their genes." I cannot believe she just said carnal urges in public. "Anyways, promise you'll dish when the inevitable happens? I will if you will," she smiled.

Okay, one I would be way too embarrassed to discuss anything that personal with anyone. I would probably be embarrassed when it was actually happening. And two, I did not even want to hear about Sarah's and Evan's anything. Just the thought made my skin crawl.

"You know you're going to tell me anyways, right?" I kept from making any promises. If Kendra was around I might have been able to pin listening to _that _on her. Kendra, I shouldn't think about her. Not here. Not when I didn't even have the photo of us to ease the pain and guilt.

"Yeah, I know," Sarah shrugged happily, and then proceeded to change the topic of conversation for the umpteenth time that night.

I listened patiently as she talked about some of the most random things, including something about the digressing quality of reality shows. Sarah didn't even slow up when the food came, somehow talking while still being able to eat her meal. It was quite an astonishing trick at that.

Her chatter carried through until we were walking down the steps to the street. Well, she skipped down them ahead of me while I followed silently behind. As we were walking towards the car I once again felt as if someone was watching me. The feeling had subsided when we entered the restaurant but had been growing ever since we took our seat at the window. My senses were wired.

The feeling was so strong I rubbed my hands over my arms in order to stop the prickliness that was attacking my skin. Sarah was several feet ahead of me now, oblivious to my slowing pace. In an attempt to cease my worries and reassure myself it was only paranoia, I turned slowly to take in my surroundings.

The sidewalks were much less crowded due to the late hour. There was an old man walking his dog heading towards the east and a happy couple walking hand in hand slightly ahead of him. As I continued surveying the area I had to do a double take when I saw a man dressed in a light brown suit leaning against a car across the street. He was tanned, an unnatural attribute for a Port Angeles native, and on the short side. Dark chocolate brown hair framed a face which was pointed towards me and his surreally bright green eyes bore straight into mine.

"Alyssa, come on," Sarah shouted when she realized I wasn't beside her.

My head snapped in her direction to find her standing by the car with her hands on her hips. I started walking towards her taking one last glance behind me to find the car with no guy anywhere near it: gone.

"Are you okay, you seem a bit rattled." Sarah asked with concern as I slid into the passenger seat.

"I'm fine," I answered dazedly, still staring at the spot the man had been.

Maybe it was just my imagination. Maybe he wasn't really there at all.

Sarah shrugged pulling out of the parking lot and onto the main stretch of road heading for home. As we were stopped at a red light I glanced in the side mirror only to find the man against the car again, his green eyes staring after me. Maybe I should have a little chat with Dr. Gardner again.

* * *

_**A/N Hope you enjoyed the first chapter of the sequel!**_

**_Rachel _**

**_xoxo_**


End file.
